These trips are collected over internet. Credit goes to the original author. I have just decorated it into presentation for my students.

1. Law – 9084
AS and A2 Level
Rifat Rahman
Faculty of Law

2. Introduction
 Whichever approach you choose, remember that your introduction is the
first statement your examiner will read. Again, this sounds obvious but
many students are careless about introductions, saying either too much or
too little. A good introduction sets out clearly your response to the topic and
how you are going to present that response. It’s as simple as that. It is
commonly agreed that quotation should be omitted from your introduction
as this is where you are going to say what your response is not that of
others. Remember to keep your introduction short and to the point ending
with a ‘feed’ into the opening paragraph of the main body of your essay.
© Rifat Rahman, Faculty of Law
(rahmanrifat@gmail.com)

3. Main Body
 In the main body of your essay, each paragraph should be based on a
separate but related aspect of the main topic of the essay. Following the plan
you made earlier, write each paragraph almost as though it were under a
sub-heading to the main title and supplement each of your points with the
evidence you have collected. Students are often unsure about the length of
paragraphs but though there is no hard and fast rule, it is a good idea to keep
them to four or five sentences.
 Supporting your statements is vital and, in the case of a literary
essay, this evidence should also be analysed. This means that you
should comment on individual words and/or phrases that seem to you
to be of particular interest or importance. Analysis of this kind will not
only get you extra marks but will also sometimes suggest additional
lines of thought which may be helpful, if relevant to the main
argument.
© Rifat Rahman, Faculty of Law
(rahmanrifat@gmail.com)

4.  Quotations should not be too long, never more than a few lines at
most, except in exceptional circumstances, and should adhere to the
referencing style you have been requested to use. It is usual to indent longer
quotations and set them out on a separate line, single-spaced, following a
colon. Shorter quotations (i.e. a line or less) should be incorporated within
the text and enclosed within quotation marks.
 Try to end each paragraph in the main body of the essay with a ‘hook’ to the
next i.e. an idea that introduces the topic of the subsequent paragraph;
follow this up by opening the next paragraph with reference to the link. This
will help your essay to flow better and seem to be establishing a pattern
which will ultimately lead to your conclusion.
© Rifat Rahman, Faculty of Law
(rahmanrifat@gmail.com)

5. Paragraphs should move on using the basis of furthering the argument. This
can be achieved in several ways:
 Sequential writing, where one event follows naturally from another
 Elaborative writing, where you develop a point made previously
 Contrasting/comparing, where an idea contradicts or questions a point in a
preceding paragraph
 These are just a few ideas, there are many more and your choice may be
determined by the type of essay/argument you are constructing.
© Rifat Rahman, Faculty of Law
(rahmanrifat@gmail.com)

6. Conclusion
 The conclusion should be a summation of your argument. Students often
lose marks for presenting an abrupt conclusion which overlooks the
implications of the overall argument, its future development and
unavoidable contractions/omissions due to shortage of space. It is
acceptable to use quotations in conclusions but not to introduce new ideas at
this stage. By now, your reader should have been given such a strong sense
of your central argument that no further information is necessary anyway. In
your conclusion, you are just giving a more generic context to your specific
thesis and tying up any loose ends which you feel have occurred during the
writing of the essay.
© Rifat Rahman, Faculty of Law
(rahmanrifat@gmail.com)

7. Style of Writing
 The importance of following the required referencing style has already been stated.
However, there are other stylistic features which should be adhered to and these will
normally be set out in the instructions you are given when an essay is set. As a
general rule, do not write in the first person unless specifically asked to do so i.e.
avoid the use of phrases such as ‘I think’ or ‘in this essay I am going to’.
Rather, allow your essay to reflect a personal perception whilst being presented in an
objective manner. It is useful to look at how professional writers construct essays to
gain style tips (though remember, do not plagiarise under any circumstances as this
is sure to be detected, is unfair on the writer whose ideas you are stealing and
ultimately self-defeating). Do not use colloquial expressions, stick to Standard
English throughout. Lists are not a good idea unless the essay specifically requires
them, as they can appear to be rushed, a truncated way of presenting a lot of
information without sufficient explanation.
© Rifat Rahman, Faculty of Law
(rahmanrifat@gmail.com)

8. Thank You
© Rifat Rahman, Faculty of Law
(rahmanrifat@gmail.com)